The "Jersey Shore" star originally took his nickname from a description of his well-defined abdominal muscles (they were always "the situation" in question).

That's how the public first came to know Michael Sorrentino, back in 2009. Now 32, he'd like to drop the "dancing monkey" act seen by millions on MTV. He says as much in "The Sorrentinos," a half-hour series premiering tonight on the TV Guide Network. Yeah, that was him, but it's the him he'd like to get away from. Problem is, even Sorrentino's family seems to hold on to the character he's created — it's good business. But there are deeper reasons for his transformation.

"I left the Shore, I got sober and cleaned up my act," Sorrentino says in the show's introduction. Once addicted to prescription painkillers, at series' filming, the graduate of Manalapan High School says he's been "totally sober" for six months. Joining him in the series is his sister Melissa, dubbed "the CEO of the Sorrentinos," who lives with her fiance Michael Sussman and their mother, Linda "Peaches" Sorrentino, who recently became single. There's also Mike's two older brothers, Frank, a former child actor, and Marc, a DJ who also runs the Middletown location of Boca Tanning Club, the fledgling family tanning business that Mike owns.

As for the reality TV artist formerly known as The Situation, he lives in a house — his first — alongside steady girlfriend Lauren, brother Frank, friend Pete and Moses, his dog. Like Frank, he tries to book acting gigs. While the series itself manages to keep Sorrentino in the limelight, the gist of this show isn't necessarily career — it's family.

Sunday dinner is had. And tears are shed. Many tears.

First impressions

During the first season of "Jersey Shore," Sorrentino busted out of the gate as a likely frontrunner in the names to be remembered, but as he alienated his housemates — sometimes undressing in front of them (one suspects JWoww still remembers that) — Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi outpaced him as the main character with staying power.

Of all the spinoffs to come out of MTV's party-all-the-time series, "Snooki & JWOWW" is the only one to see any kind of life beyond a first season, even after both Polizzi and producers worried what would happen to the show when she became pregnant with her first child.

Polizzi and Jenni "JWoww" Farley, now both focused on motherhood, are settling down into season four of their show, and it looks like they're &mdash at least so far — the only ones assured of a future on MTV past any number of "Shore" reunion shows.

Pauly D's MTV series — "The Pauly D Project" — went kaput with no sign of revival. Now a father, he's based in Las Vegas, where he continues to work as a celebrity DJ. Last year, Vinny Guadagnino got "The Show With Vinny," his own celebrity interview series. Like Sorrentino's spinoff, the show co-starred his family, the whole enterprise set at their Staten Island house. But since the first season, there's been no further word on that one, either.

As for the other "Shore" kids, Sam and Ron? Last we heard, they were living in Westchester. And "meatball" Deena Cortese? As per her Twitter account, the "blast in a glass" is still taking bookings and press inquiries.

Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino from the 'Jersey Shore' parties in Sayreville NJThe situation was under control at the deko lounge in Sayreville last night as reality star Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino of MTV's 'Jersey Shore' hosted an evening that drew hordes of scantily clad club goers screeching for pictures. He spoke with us in the parking lot about the origins of his alias, along with carbs and cardio, plus the pitfalls of celebrity, or apparent lack thereof. (Video by Lisa Rose/The Star-Ledger)

You might say the kids of "Jersey Shore" have grown up &dash; children of their own, businesses, homes and sobriety seem to loom much larger than shots, "gorilla juiceheads," "grenades" and "T-shirt time."

Whatever ends up happening with "The Sorrentinos," it's a sobering look at a sobered star, a series that's less about intervention than recovery. Catharsis may not make for ratings as impressive as those sparked by boardwalk antics, but the big come-down is as real as any drunken stumble.

"I got a ticket to a roller coaster and I took my family with me," Mike tells his sober coach. His sister sits by his side, in tears. She thought the worst of his days on drugs.

"There were many times that I thought I may lose Michael," Marc says, tears in his eyes.

Mike breaks down, too, alongside his mother, as he sees Melissa try on wedding dresses. He says he'll pay for the dress, and then she cries, too.

The Situation doesn't want to be The Situation, he says, because it takes him to that place — the place that scared his family and brought the demons out to play.

Sorrentino owns a tanning salon, but, like his days at The Shore Store, remains allergic to working shifts. Craig Blankenhorn/TV Guide Network

"It takes a lot of energy to just be that guy," he explains, after Marc posts an ad with an abs-out Mike as the store mascot. They argue over the tanning business — Marc thinks Mike should work actual shifts, and like any number of days at The Shore Store, Mike doesn't just doesn't think he should.

Most impressive is Lauren, who Mike says dated him for four years during college. They broke up around the time he joined the "Jersey Shore" crew — precisely because of the show.

And yes, she somehow returned — maybe it was all that "GTL" — even after all of his one-night stands were captured for the cameras. After DTF, after grenades, after the calling of cabs. After fights with Snooki and blurry nights at Karma.

"I have to say that not many girls would take me back after seeing some of the antics that I pulled on 'Jersey Shore,'" Sorrentino says. For a guy that's famously prone to exaggeration, it's quite an understatement.